The Saha food truck initiative seeks to help migrant women become independent.The Saha food truck initiative seeks to help migrant women become independent.

Migrant women in Malta have launched an initiative to become independent by cooking food and selling it through a truck that would visit different localities.

The initiative, themed Saha, is backed by the Migrant Women Association, which found in a study that 85 per cent of migrant women wanted to find employment but felt locked out of the local job market.

The research also indicated that the women had a passion for cooking and this led volunteers assisting the association to come up with the food truck idea.

After several cooking initiatives, including a stint at catering for the World Music Festival last year, the Migrant Women Association decided to raise funds to buy a truck to sell the food.

“The idea is to serve affordable, delicious dishes to people via our very own food truck while empowering migrant women,” project coordinator Steve Frigerio said.

“Migrant women often wanted to work but did not have the necessary skills to find employment on their own.”

Mr Frigerio said that the food truck initiative helped make migrant women feel part of something and integrate into the Maltese community faster.

The idea is to serve affordable, delicious dishes to people via our very own food truck

“Saha aims to bring together people from countries as diverse as Colombia and Libya and help them become financially stable,” Mr Frigerio said.

Saha in Arabic means good health and was typically said before a meal, he noted, adding that the word had a similar meaning as saħħa in Maltese.

A crowdfunding campaign was set up with the aim of raising €26,600 for the Saha initiative.

The Migrant Women’s Association, which was set up in 2015, has so far helped women hailing from Syria, Spain, Portugal, France, and Romania.

More information on the food truck initiative can be found at http://www.zaar.com.mt/projects/sahafoodtruck/ .

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